US plans to not extend TikTok divestiture deadline

The Trump administration has opted to not grant ByteDance a new extension of an order requiring the Chinese company to divest TikTok's US assets.

Talks between the company and government are, however, expected to continue over the short video-sharing app's fate, according to Reuters.

The government had previously issued a 15-day and 7-day extension of the initial 90-day deadline, which was November 12, in Trump's order.

Last week, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States granted TikTok parent ByteDance a one-week extension until Friday over the order to shed TikTok's US assets. 

President Donald Trump's August order gave the Justice Department the power to enforce the divestiture order once the deadline expired, but it is unclear when or how the government may seek to compel divestiture.

Trump was said to have personally made the decision to not approve any additional extensions at a meeting of senior US officials, according to a person briefed on the meeting. 

The Trump administration contends TikTok poses national security concerns as the personal data of US users could be obtained by China’s government. TikTok, which has over 100 million US users, denies the allegation.

Under pressure from the US government, ByteDance has been in talks for months to finalise a deal with Walmart Inc and Oracle Corp to shift TikTok’s US assets into a new entity.

ByteDance made a new proposal aimed at addressing the US government’s concerns, Reuters reported last week. The US Treasury said last week the seven-day extension was granted to review the "revised submission."

In September, TikTok announced it had a preliminary deal for Walmart and Oracle to take stakes in a new company to oversee US operations. Trump said the deal had his "blessing."